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by xXUsEdXx
Summary: -Taking the life of someone innocent, who was going through this much pain because there's no other option to save her…this will kill me.- -Rated T for safety.


_I'm back! Many, many things have happened. For one thing, I got a job-downside is I work ten hours, Monday through Thursday. But that's beside the point. This is the first Bleach one shot I've written. I'm going to address a few things that you may not get about my OCs right away:_

_Elena and Yaretzi are NOT reapers from the Soul Society (there will be another part to this explaining everything)_

_Elena gave her powers to her sister, Yaretzi, which resulted in her becoming human again-but with no memory of being a reaper._

_By "Fall", Yaretzi means that Elena is becoming a monster that she and her sister hunt-not a Hollow. That will also be explained._

_This is partly inspired by a roleplaying scenario from a loooong time ago. I apologize if Ichigo seems OOC...being inactive so long made me rusty._

* * *

I didn't know why I was standing here, in the apartment of the strange reaper that I met only days ago.

Elena was curled in on herself in the corner, choking on her own screams. I could see her shoulder bleeding heavily. Why? What was going on?

The reaper who led me here—the one who claimed to be Elena's sister Yaretzi—glanced at me. "It's awful, isn't it?"

"What's happening to her?" I asked.

Yaretzi looked back to Elena. "She's Falling."

"It's not Hollowfication?"

"I know what kind of monsters _you _fight, Kurosaki, and let me assure you right now that what my sister is becoming is not a Hollow."

I didn't understand. "Then what is she becoming?"

"Something that you don't want to fight. Which means that my sister has to be killed," Yaretzi sighed.

"You can't just kill your own sister!" I yelled, facing her. "After what your sister's done for you!"

"Do you think I enjoy thoughts of killing my sister?" she growled before gesturing violently at the bleeding ex-reaper in the corner. "Unless you want to kill her once she loses herself entirely, then by all means wait out the Fall!"

I couldn't. While some of what Yaretzi was saying made sense, I don't see how she could just kill. No siblings should be reduced to this.

"Why?" I asked. "Why is she going through this?"

"Because her memories returned," answered Yaretzi. "Elena gave up her powers in order to become human again. Our ways are different from your Soul Society. When she and I died, we did not go there."

I vaguely remembered Elena mentioning going somewhere when she died; a while space, devoid of time. "Elena went to Purgatory, as she called it?" I asked.

"Yes. For many years." Yaretzi looked pained before a scythe appeared in her hand—her sister's scythe. She crossed the space to Elena.

"What are you doing?" I asked.

"What I have to," she answered, raising the scythe right over Elena.

"Are you crazy!?" I went over and gripped the handle to stall Yaretzi from bringing it down. "You can' just kill her now!"

Yaretzi glared at me from beneath her bangs. "Release the handle now, Kurosaki."

"No chance," I bit out. Yaretzi opened her mouth, ready to make a retort until—

"You…you're…Ichigo?"

We both looked at Elena. Her face was lifted upward, looking right at me; her eyes were full of blood. "You are…aren't you…?" she asked softly, her breathing uneven.

"Answer her," Yaretzi hissed at me. Slowly, I let go of the scythe's handle and she lowered it to her side.

"That's right, Elena. I'm Ichigo," I said.

She tilted her head. "How…did we…know each other…? I only know your…name…" she whispered.

"We met a while ago, Elena. At a park, remember?" I told her.

"Park…?" Elena flinched before lurching forward, choking on her scream. Her shoulder bled even more and something was sticking out…something that looked suspiciously like steel.

"Hey!" I tried to reach for her, but Yaretzi pulled me a few steps back.

"Don't touch her!" She sounded scared and I suddenly got an earful of why.

Elena's scream had escalated to near inhuman and she had fallen on the floor, her hands clutching at her shoulder. She was writhing in pain, the blood pooling beneath her.

"Can't we do something?!" I yelled, wanting to help the shrieking, bleeding body in front of me.

Yaretzi shook her head. "Not even your healer friend can do anything to stop this. The only way to help her is for her to die."

I can tell we had no other option. But I couldn't let the little sister that Elena tried to protect be the death of her. "…I'll do it, then," I muttered.

"Don't. I can see that this will haunt you," Yaretzi murmured.

She was right about that. Taking the life of someone innocent, who was going through this much pain because there's no other option to save her…this will kill me. But if she becomes something that in the end has to be killed, then the inevitable was just prolonged.

I went over to Elena, unsheathing Zangetsu. Elena looked up at me through strands of her hair. I could see her biting onto her lips hard now, to stop screaming.

_Help me_, her eyes were saying, _make it end._

I raised Zangetsu over her. "I'm sorry, Elena…" I whispered before bringing the blade down.

I shut my eyes right when I heard her gasp. I could sense her energy fading slowly…then gone.

"Kurosaki…" Yaretzi sounded concerned.

I pulled the blade out of Elena's body, turning away before I opened my eyes to face the younger sister. I could tell she could see the guilt in my eyes; and why wouldn't she, since I just killed her sister.

Yaretzi sighed. "You saved her pain, Kurosaki."

"That doesn't make me feel better."

"She'd have understood."

That, I actually believed. "You'll be taking your sister's soul to wherever it is it has to go?" I asked.

She nodded. "I will. Take care of yourself, Kurosaki. And…" She went to where her sister lay. "Don't mourn my sister too long. She never did enjoy watching someone suffer…even if the suffering they were witnessing and mourning was her own."

And she was gone. I didn't want to look back to where Elena's body once was because I did not want to imagine what her motionless body looked like.

"Goodbye, Elena," I said before leaving.


End file.
